 "'Russia can defend itself': Putin responds to Nato's rearmament threat as Ukraine war intensifies")
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that his country can defend itself in the face of a threat to its security after Nato warned of rearmament as the Ukraine war drags on.
“We do not consider any Nato rearmament to be a threat to the Russian Federation, because we are self-sufficient in terms of ensuring our security,” Putin said during a round-table interview in St Petersburg.
The Western military alliance will hold a crucial summit in The Hague next week to discuss increasing defence spending to five per cent of GDP, under pressure from US President Donald Trump.
Putin added that Russia “constantly modernising our armed forces and defensive capabilities,” saying that it “makes no sense” for Nato to spend more money on arms.
Zelenskyy to attend meeting
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to fly to the Hague to attend the Nato meeting on June 24, according to a report by AFP.
The decision will be made on the eve of the summit. This is just the schedule,” a source told the news agency, describing the meeting as “an opportunity to maintain support and promote a ceasefire.”
At the G7 summit in Canada, senior Ukrainian officials held discussions with US counterparts about the potential for supporting defence projects in Ukraine through a joint investment fund established in May, according to Kyiv’s First Deputy Prime Minister, Yulia Svyrydenko. The talks also involved US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, Svyrydenko added.
N Korea to send workers to Kursk
North Korea will send thousands of workers to help Russia rebuild the war-torn city of Kursk. The development comes as Pyongyang is already facing backlash for sending its troops to the battlefield.
Reports by Russian state media say that the country’s Security Council Secretary, Sergei Shoigu, held talks with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on Tuesday, where the two sides agreed on the arrangement, describing it “fraternal assistance”.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsOn Wednesday, Shoigu said that North Korea would send a “division of builders, two military brigades [of] 5,000 people” and 1,000 deminers who would help Russia in the “restoration” of Kursk, according to a report by TASS.
“This is a kind of fraternal assistance from the Korean people and leader Kim Jong Un to our country,” Shoigu said.
With inputs from agencies
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